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Abstract: Unauthorized
use of natural resources is a key threat to many protected areas. Approaches to
reducing this threat include law enforcement and integrated conservation and
development (ICD) projects, but for such ICDs to be targeted effectively, it is
important to understand who is illegally using which natural resources and why.
The nature of unauthorized behaviour makes it difficult to ascertain this
information through direct questioning. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park,
Uganda, has many ICD projects, including authorizing some local people to use
certain non-timber forest resources from the park. However, despite over 25
years of ICD, unauthorized resource use continues. We used household surveys,
indirect questioning (unmatched count technique), and focus group discussions
to generate profiles of authorized and unauthorized resource users and to
explore motivations for unauthorized activity. Overall, unauthorized resource
use was most common among people from poor households who lived closest to the
park boundary and farthest from roads against unauthorized activity, although
law enforcement ranked highest overall. Despite the sensitive nature of
exploring unauthorized resource use, management-relevant insights into the
profiles and motivations of unauthorized resource users can be gained from a
combination of survey techniques, as adopted here. To reduce unauthorized
activity at Bwindi, we suggest ICD benefit the poorest people living in remote
areas and near the park boundary by providing affordable alternative sources of
forest products and addressing crop raiding. To prevent resentment from driving
further unauthorized activity, ICDs should be managed transparently and
equitably and trading centres. Other motivations for unauthorized resource use
included crop raiding by wild animals, inequity of revenue sharing, and lack of
employment, factors that created resentment among the poorest communities. In
some communities, benefits obtained from ICD were reported to be the greatest
deterrents against unauthorized activity,
although law enforcement ranked highest overall. Despite the sensitive nature of
exploring unauthorized resource use, management-relevant insights into the profiles
and motivations of unauthorized resource users can be gained from a combination
of survey techniques, as adopted here. To reduce unauthorized activity at
Bwindi, we suggest ICD benefit the poorest people living in remote areas and
near the park boundary by providing affordable alternative sources of forest
products and addressing crop raiding. To prevent resentment from driving
further unauthorized activity, ICDs should be manage transparently and equitably.